Broncos Drum the Cardinals 38-12 in Preseason Finale

The Denver Broncos beat the Cardinals 38-12 in the final preseason game! Below is the recap and postgame interviews:

The 3rd and final preseason game started with the Broncos on defense and Cardinals on offense. Clayton Tune starting at QB for Arizona. The Cardinals opened their drive on the ground with an 11 yard gain by Tony Jones Jr. On the next play, Damarri Mathis was injured trying to tackle Jones and was carted off the field. On Tune's first passing attempt, Jordan Jackson sacked him for a 4 yard loss. A couple plays later, the drive stalled and former Bronco Matt Prater came in to attempt a 55-yard field goal. The attempt missed and so Jarrett Stidham and the Broncos offense had tremendous starting field position for their first drive at their own 45 yard line.

The Broncos offense immediately got to work with their rookie players doing a lot of heavy lifting. Audric Estime running hard and catching a screen for 14 yards, Devaughn Vele with a 14 yard catch on 4th down and Troy Franklin with a 10 yard reverse. On 2nd down, Estime punched it in from the 3 yard line, giving the Broncos an early 7-0 lead with 6:44 remaining in the 1st quarter.

Clayton Tune and the Cardinals offense went back to work but it was Jordan Jackson AGAIN with a big sack that stalled their next scoring attempt so they punted the ball back to Denver.

Zach Wilson now in at QB and the offense went right back to the ground game, this time with Tyler Badie who gained 10 yards on his first carry. Zach nearly threw and interception on his first passing attempt and a blocking issue on 3rd down would eventually lead to the first punt of the game for Denver.

The Cardinals offense back out on the filed at their own 21 yard line but went 3-and-out on their drive and sent the ball back to Denver, who would begin their next offensive drive at their own 23 yard line to start the 2nd quarter.

Zach Wilson and the offense was put in a bit of a hole early on a holding call but Wilson was able to scramble for 20 yards and get the first down to spark the offense. Wilson fired a dart to David Sills over the middle for a 23 yard completion to move the ball into Arizona territory. He followed that with a completion of 19 yards to Nate Adkins and then another completion to Sills to give the Broncos a goal to go situation. On 4th and goal, Zach Wilson ran a play fake and found Nate Adkins wide open in the end zone for a 1 yard touchdown, extending their lead 14-0 with 8:35 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

Now in a 2 score hole, Clayton Tune remained in the game for his 4th drive of the afternoon. Tune was able to find former Colorado Buffalo Xavier Weaver on a 43 gain down to the Broncos 27 yard line and suddenly the Cardinals were in scoring range. On 3rd and goal, Tune hit Tony Jones over the middle and Justin Strnad gave him a huge hit, dislodging the ball and Keidron Smith picks it up for the first turnover of the game. Broncos offense got the ball back at their own 12 yard line with 4:32 remaining in the 1st half.

Will Sherman was called for a hold on the 1st play of the drive and the Broncos were backed up even more in their own territory. On 3rd down, Wilson zipped a pass to Troy Franklin for 21 yards as the Broncos were, once again, on the move. Unfortunately, a couple of negative plays later and the drive stalled at their own 27 yard line with 1:53 remaining in the 1st half.

Riley Dixon punted the ball to Arizona and they went back on the field starting from their own 23 yard line. A 12 men on the field penalty by the Broncos gave Arizona a first down on 3rd and 4. Tune guided the offense all the way down the 32 yard line. Matt Prater hits a 50-yard field goal at the buzzer to make it 14-3 at halftime.

Broncos offense started with the ball in the 2nd half and Zach Wilson immediately got Denver to midfield with a completion to Hunter Kampmoyer for 13 yards. Wilson hit Jalen Virgil on a slant for 13 yards to get the Broncos in to Arizona territory. Former Broncos CB Michael Ojemudia interfered with Jalen Virgil who would've had an easy touchdown, moving Denver into scoring range. Unfortunately, the drive stalled and the Broncos settled for a 30 yard field goal from Wil Lutz, extending the lead 17-3 early in the 3rd quarter.

Desmond Ridder in at QB and the Cardinals offense moved quickly down field, aided by a personal foul from Tanner McAlister, into a goal to go opportunity. The drive stalled and Matt Prater chipped in a 24 yard field goal, closing the gap 17-6 with 7:44 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

Zach Wilson and the Broncos offense went back out onto the field but after a 3rd down sack given up, punted the ball quickly back to Arizona, who would start their next drive at their 24 yard line.

Ridder's next drive was a similar result and the Broncos quickly got the ball back at their own 12 yard line. Wilson found a little more momentum on this drive connecting with Michael Bandy for a pair of decent hookups and then, finding Brandon Johnson WIDE OPEN down the field for a 37 yard gain down to the 1 yard line. On 2nd and goal, Wilson scored a touchdown on a QB sneak and the Broncos extended their lead 24-6 with 13 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter.

Desmond Ridder and the Cardinals finally put together their best drive of the day, finding some nice rhythm with the passing game and getting bailed out by a questionable roughing call against Thomas Incoom, and from 3 yards out Hassan Hall punched it in for Arizona's first touchdown of the game with 10:46 remaining in the game. The score is now 24-12 after the 2 point conversion failed.

Zach Wilson was sacked on the next drive and the Broncos quickly punted the ball back to the Cardinals, who took over after a touchback at their 20 yard line with 9:08 remaining in the game.

The Broncos defense forced a 3-and-out, giving the offense back the ball at their own 36 yard line with 8:23 remaining in the game. The Denver offense, looking to work the clock a bit, went to the ground game with Blake Watson getting a quick first down. On 1st and 10, Zach Wilson threw a perfect pass to an open Brandon Johnson who would roll into the endzone for a 46-yard touchdown. Broncos extend their lead 31-12 with 6:22 remaining in the game.

Desmond Ridder and the Cardinals offense put together a great drive into Broncos territory but he was knocked out of the game. On 1st and goal at the 6 yard line, Clayton Tune threw the ball right to Levelle Bailey and he took it 94 yards to the house for a pick 6! Broncos blowing out the Cardinals 38-12!

The next broadcast will be two weeks from today on September 8th as the Broncos open the season in Seattle vs the Seahawks. Coverage on KOA begins at 8am MTN.

Below are the postgame interviews with Sean Payton, Zach Wilson, Justin Strnad